✩ Five Girls Chase Boys
We had narrowly escaped Mr. Hutchins force of bodyguards. Devlin was so shaken by the incident that he asked me to drive in his place. He had a new car, a shiny grey Porsche Cayman GTS which was the finest car I've ever driven. If it were another occasion, I would have enjoyed its powerful brakes and amazing horsepower.
"Take another left," He instructed me for I was clueless about the place we were headed off to. He didn't bother explaining either and sat still, staring blankly out the window.
The narrow strip of road was surrounded by lush greenery. I turned the car around the forest of pine trees and cedar trees. For miles no car was visible on the single lane road. I had a bad feeling about all of this. The path began winding upwards as the road took a turn onto the mountain.
I pressed the brakes. "Are we going all the way up?" My eyes traced the hazed lines of the mountain and the road wound around its edges.
"No," Devlin replied a minute later. "Here," He unfastened my seatbelt. "I'll drive now. You rest." I wasn't tired even though it had been two hours since we had left his apartment but I didn't protest.
After switching seats, he started the engine again and shifted the gear to third. The climb wasn't that steep which would need the most powerful gear. He said we weren't going all the way up.
Instead of taking the gravel, black road, he steered the car towards a bumpy, unkempt path hidden at the side of the forest. Into the darkness of the forest we went, each bump jolting me forward in the seat.
I don't know how he was driving on this gravel-less, mud road. Plus it didn't look this road was used often. There was grass and weeds growing over the small clearing.
In a distance, a small house sat on an inclined slope. It was so well hidden by the forest, one could only make the vague outline of its chimney. I realized that was where he was headed.
To distract myself from silent man and the mysterious place he was taking me. I turned on the radio which made this bumpy ride even more miserable as Talking body by Tove Lo blared through.
"If you love me right, we fuc-" I jammed my fingers into the stereo, desperate to stop the song. Great, this is exactly what we needed to think about as we approached a secluded place.
"Why did you turn it off? I like that song," I couldn't tell if he truly did like the song or he was being a sarcastic ass.
I glared at him. As if sensing my glare, he smirked. "What? It has a great beat," And then innocently he began singing. "Now if we're talking body. You got a perfect one, so put it on me. Swear it won't take you long,"
Color crept slowing onto my neck and filled my cheeks.
"I hate you," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. "I hate so damn much,"
"I love you too," He gave me a full Grinch grin. "I love so very, very much." How I wished my heart hadn't skipped several beats in a row. He was back to his cheery self. Or was it just a cover for what was really going on under his skin?
There are two kinds of people in this world. One who complain even when there is no reason to, another who won't ever complain even if there are a million reason to. I know Devlin belonged to the second category. I'll have to be real careful around him because he won't ever let me know how hurt he is.
"Fuck off,"
"Aw, hit a nerve, did I?" He turned his attention back to the mud path. It was beginning to ascend onto the small hill. I could hear the engine and tires fight against the steep incline. My stomach gave out a fearful lurch. I gritted my teeth together as I looked down the incline. The trees and the forest were beginning to shrink away as small dots on a canvas of brown.
I couldn't help but ask "Is this safe?"
"Don't worry, I've done this plenty of times-"Just as those words escaped his devious lips, the car came to a sudden stop. I looked ahead to realize that there was a large pile of jagged edged, mountain rocks blocking the path. It seemed like the work of a minor landslide. He changed the gear to Park.
"Looks like we'll have to walk from here," He scratched the back of his head, sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry. I've done this plenty of times," I did a terrible mimicry of his voice, which was purposely very high pitched and feminine.
It had the desired the effect as literally puffs of smoke escaped his nostrils. "I still haven't forgotten you'd make a pretty girl. Just so you know."
"I still believe it. Just so you know,"
He gave me a deadly look. A tiger ready to pounce on me. No, I did not mean that in a dirty way. Chocolate Fudge, urgh- this is all because of talking body.
"Get out. We need to start walking if you want get there before dark."
"Get where, love?" I stifled a laugh as I again, copied his famous style of adding love after everything.
The smile on his lips dimmed, slightly. "My hideout. In other words, freedom."
✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩
"I can carry you if you want," He glanced over his shoulder and watched me tumble over every other twig and rock in the path. Freely, he strode, not the slightest bit cold in the flimsy grey t-shirt while I was shivering in my pumpkin sweater.
"Shut up," I stomped on the fallen pine needles.
"What? I was being nice," He stopped walking and waited for me to catch up. The air around us was clean and fresh, not polluted by the smell of gasoline. I wasn't going to admit it but I liked it here. The creaking of crickets, the sneaky rustles of the wind through leaves, the red sky above. I adored every moment of this.
He took my cold hand with his free hand. His other hand held this canister of oil which he had dug out from the car's backseat. "I'll walk slowly now. Okay?"
I nodded, eyeing the steel canister. Why would we need it? "What's the oil for?"
He walked slowly, as he said he would, our entwined hands swinging back and forth. "For the lamps. There's no electricity in the cabin."
My eyes widened. "But it's freezing and I'm pretty sure if you don't get something warm, you're gonna catch a cold."
"There's a fireplace. I always keep enough wood to light it. There's quilts and blankets to keep me warm and some spare clothes for to me wear. Don't worry."
Dragonflies about the size of hand buzzed near my ear. They were really pretty, the light danced off their rainbow green bodies. I almost forgot what I was about to say.
"Yo-you seem to come here a-lot."
"I do. Let's say it's the place where I can write. I can drain my mind here and put it all back in perfect order. When my mum was better, she used come here with me. It was our little secret. I suppose she was really attached to nature and got pretty upset in the city. She had to come her every weekend to free herself. It wasn't a surprise for me that that she used to be a mountaineer. Someone like her would pursue a nature orientated career." He abruptly stopped speaking. "Am I talking too much?"
I shook my head. "No, I like to hear you talk about yourself. You rarely do."
"So do you,"
"Well, I'm a boring person."
"I beg to differ. How's college going?" I sensed Devlin didn't want to talk about his mother. He somehow wanted to take his mind off her.
"It's as good as it gets. I thought college was going to be hard but it's easier than school. I guess because I'm studying what I love. The academic counsellor was right. I really do like Architecture,"
"What about Interior Design?"
I shrugged. "I'm taking the introduction to Interior designing but I think I'm going to keep Architecture as my major. It allows me to keep modern art as a minor,"
"How's Architecture?"
"It's..." I lost words to describe the fascination towards shaping these foreboding structures. "I don't know,"
"I get you," He smiled.
"You do?" I asked, surprised.
"You have that look in your eyes." He stared ahead, the sun had disappeared behind trees, suspending the entire forest in a poppy pink. "The way a sailor looks at the ocean, the way an astronomer looks at the moon. He wants out to reach out and steal the moon from sky,"
Devlin had the ability to spin words in such a style that it literally took my breath.
"You're really good,"
He met my gaze with a quirked eyebrow. "What?"
I inhaled deeply. "With words. You're really good with words,"
"Thank you," I could see he really meant it. He stopped walking. "Look we're here,"
Laid out in front of me was a small one room cabin with four oak steps leading to the shaded wood planked patio. It had a warm, cozy feel to it. I climbed the steps with him following me. The sun had fallen into the vicious trap of darkness. The forest had come to life as fireflies swarmed the bushes. Owl hoots resounded from behind me.
He lighted the glass lamp hanging from the side door. After few flicks of the brass knob on the bottom, the fire in the lamp came to life. From the back pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a silver key. Moments later, the door had clicked to life.
He held the door open for me to go in and I did. The interiors were indeed nice. It was your typical ten by ten room. No space had been wasted for a seating area. It was an L-shaped cabin. The small lobby by the door had a shoe rack and a white cabinet. I slipped off my checkered sneakers and placed them on the rack. Devlin did the same with his Nike shoes.
"There're socks in the cabinet. The hardwood floors can get ice cold in the winters," He pointed to the tall, ply cabinet standing next to the rack. I brought out a pair of thick sheep wool socks and squeezed my feet through them.
Devlin was already wearing red socks. I quietly made my way out of the lobby and into the room where two twin sized beds were pushed against the coffee colored, wood paneled wall and a small study table was sitting in the far corner, right beside the square window.
There was a small opening in the wall opposite to the beds, I could see that it lead to the kitchen. The kitchen also had a small fireplace. Why was the fireplace in the kitchen? Another door lead to the bathroom I suppose. I really needed to pee, like seriously, my bladder was going to burst any moment now. Just as I was about to head towards the bathroom.
I collided head first with Devlin. We toppled into each and conveniently landed on the bed. He was over me, his hands pressed on either side my head and his legs straddled over my waist. Our chest flush against the other and his mouth just above my neckline.
Heat soaked my skin till the toes. Flustered, I couldn't even meet his eyes. There were too many dirty thoughts running in my head. No doubt, he was thinking the same because his skin was just as red as mine.
Good Lord, help us.
✩ ✩
✩ ✩
✩ ✩
✩
✩ ✩
Note: I'll update soon. Don't worry. Hopefully the descriptions were decent and you guys got the picture ;).
I've started this short story called the twelfth kiss. If you like Blanket of Stars, you'll love the twelfth kiss. [Wow, I sound like some creepy salesperson] Maybe check it out, maybe not. :? (pretty please?)
So what you think? Why would Devlin bring Alice here? And Why is Mr. Hutchins so angry with his own son?